More Musings of a Numbers Symbol

TV Tropes

I was over TV Tropes today, which is where I go when I'm bored. Along the way, I stopped by the Injury Tropes, just out of curiosity, and read about Annoying Arrows. They said that bows and arrows went out of use because it's hard to learn a bow, and requires considerable strength to work. I wonder where the anime variations of a bow and arrow fit in. It is TV Tropes, after all.






About eight seconds into Cure Aqua's attack, if you look, it should seem like a bow. Incidentally, it's a lot easier to see in the movie previews. No, maybe it's not. That was an early preview; I see they didn't have Fresh Pretty Cure in that one.

Twilight

Let me see, what else can I ramble on about while I'm here? Oh yes. See this commercial for the Bing Search engine? You'll have to follow the link, the video is to wide for me to embed in my blog. That guy in the commercial is supposed to be a vampire. See how fast he's moving? Now, this really bother me, because I can't remember reading ANYWHERE in Dracula that vampires had the gift of superspeed. The only vampire story I've ever read that in is Twilight. And that really bothers me, because though I've decided that Twilight is an okay book series (Of course, I'm not counting Breaking Dawn when I say series,) I'm getting more and more annoying that that stupid book screwed up an entire genre of monsters!!!

- Unless I really, really missed something in Dracula, vampires don't have superspeed.

- Vampires don't sparkle in the sun. They die in the sun.

- Yes, in the book, the reason the Cullen family can't be out during the day is because they sparkle in sun, as opposed to dying. Are you freaking kidding me?

- My apologies. I just got back from TV Tropes (again), and they told me that in the book, Dracula could be out in the sun, he just couldn't use some of his powers. That's true. My bad. Either way, Twilight is still not excused.

- They're also immune to crosses, and probably (thought this hasn't been confirmed in the books yet, at least not that I've found) by extension, can't be repelled by garlic either, and can cast reflections in mirrors,which is in CLEAR CONTRADICTION to the greatest vampire of all times, DRACULA. Not. Edward. Cullen.

- Another thing thing that makes me very annoyed is this belief that vampires don't have to sleep, at any time, if you go by Twilight. So tell me, Edward, what did Dracula do in his coffin all day? Watch DVDs?

Now with all these other shows out there about or somehow involving vampires I have to wonder how many of them are taking their cues from Twilight. If a stupid commercial will take it from Twilight, well, I'm worried, about how everything else is doing vampires. I used to like Twilight, but I've read all but the last chapter of Eclipse, and anymore I'm just not impressed. That's okay. They tell me Breaking Dawn is worse. Some maybe I'll get a copy and see.

Winx Club

I've been watching Season 4, online because it hasn't been dubbed/mangled by 4Kids yet, and this season is nothing but sheer insanity. The girls get a new power up this season, which is to be expected; most magical girl shows do give their characters an upgrade when the new season starts. This season's model is called Believix, and is much better than the skimpy outfits of last season.

This has since descended into lunacy. The Believix comes with three different pairs of wings, interchangeable wings, at that. These are known as the Speedix, which is apparently supposed to give you a speed boost. Then there's Zoomix, which can let you teleport; never mind that Stella's scepter can do the same thing and we haven't seen that thing since Flora got her Enchantix in Season 3, and then there's Tracix, which is supposed to let you see into the past, or something stupid like that.

Well, as if all that wasn't enough, turns out, the girls actually get two more transformations this season. The first one, Sophix or Sophix or Solvix, no one's figured out the name yet, nearly put the Enchantix to shame for two of the girls, and the next one is actually an improvement, though it's still stupid, in my opinion. Way too many transformations. Oh well. At least their stripperiffic season 3 outfits are gone.

Comment Moderation

Why do I even have this turned on? It's not like I ever actually moderate any comments people leave for me. Then again, it'll be nice to have if I ever need it. I'll leave it for now, I guess.

Well, that's all for this round. Thanks for reading. Ciao!

Shining Star English Lyrics!

First, a video of the song we're talking about here. This is the song Shining Star. Pretty Cool, if I do say so myself.

The only problem is that there is no translation of the Japanese lyrics. You can trust that since it's a song from Pretty Cure, it's not going to be anything obscene, but it would still be nice to know what the lyrics of the song are.

Thank to Animelyrics.com, I got my hands on a copy of the Kanji lyrics and translated them through Yahoo's Babel Fish into English. Then I did my best to romanize them, and it didn't turn out so bad, at least in my opinion.

First, the rough translation. This is what it looked like when I picked it up from Babelfish, pre-romanization.

Shining star
Answer the heart teaches obtaining always

Don’t You Think? Being conspicuous conspicuously, the
From the star which is the sky east
It grasped suddenly with the darkness
You and desire is dazzling

The [te] It is dear the [se] without beat of that chest

Shining Star
While opening the eye, there is a dream which we would like to see
Shining star
Outer space of heart with being designed (the [so] and others), [ru] future
Pretty Pretty Cure, truth key
You search pretty pretty cure
Life shining two hearts!

Don’t You think? How it is being strong
There is also a day when it halts
That it is endless insecurity
Therefore fighting you are less crowded,

When moving, the courage which does not move.

Shining Star
The eye 瞑 (the [bu]) also the [tsu] [te] has shone
Shining star
Outer space of heart ([so] and others) So the vision which does not have the times when it goes out
Mirror of pre- pre- cure mystery
Pre- pre- cure what is projected
Dream flapping 2 hearts

Shining Star
Aiming towards where it continues to run (?!)
Shining Star
The heart teaches answering always
Pre- Pre- Cure Door of Miracle
Pre- Pre- Cure Someone you open
Love is not defeated 2 hearts!

It doesn't make very much sense this way, so here is the version that I romanized:

Shining Star!
The answer the heart teaches is obtaining always…

Don’t you think? Being conspicuous conspicuously, the
Star in the eastern sky
Grappled suddenly with the darkness
You and desire are dazzling…

It is dear, the beat of that chest,

Shining Star!
When opening our eyes, there is a dream we would like to see
Shining Star!
The outer space of our hearts is planned for the future
Pretty pretty cure, the key to truth!
You search for it, Pretty pretty cure!
A shining life, your two hearts!

Don’t you think? How it is being strong
There is also a day when everything halts
That it is endless insecurity
Therefore fighting you are less crowded,*

When moving, your courage does not move.

Shining Star!
The light in your eyes has shone!
Shining Star!
The space of your heart and others has a dream that never fails
Mirror the mystery of pretty pretty cure
Pretty Pretty cure is what is projected
Our dreams are flapping [on the wings of our] two hearts

Shining Star!
Aiming towards where it [our dreams] continues to run
Shining Star!
The heart teaches, answering always…
Pretty Pretty Cure, the doorway to miracles!
Pretty pretty Cure, (Someone you open)**
Love is not defeated, [we have the power of our] two hearts!

Some day, someone who can actually speak both Japanese and English will translate this song and we'll get a version that's a better. For now, this is my version.

The first asterisked line, "Therefore fighting you are less crowded," frankly, I had no idea what they were trying to say by that. Perhaps that by fighting you are freed from your fears? I don't know, so I just left the line alone.

The second asterisked line, "Someone you open" could have meant some power that you open, but I wasn't certain about that either. Therefore, I left that alone also.

Anyway, I hope the transformation was helpful!

The Meaning of 'Transparency' Was Lost in Translation

You know, when the Democrats (Which one was it? Obama about the White House or Pelosi about the House? Either way it doesn't matter.) promised to have the most transparent administration ever, I thought they meant that literally, like, oh, for example, with no sneaking around behind closed doors trying to hide what they're doing.

Well, this wasn't what I was thinking when I thought of transparency:

Transparency like you’ve never seen before

Today marks a major milestone in government transparency -- and an important lesson in the unintended consequences of such vigorous disclosure.

We previously announced that the White House in December of this year would -- for the first time in history -- begin posting all White House visitor records under the terms of our new voluntary disclosure policy. As part of that initiative, we also offered to look back at the records created before the announcement of the policy and answer specific requests for visitor records created earlier in the year.

So far we’ve processed 110 disclosure requests from September that yielded nearly 500 visitor records. All of these are now available on the White House website in accessible, searchable format for anyone to browse or download. Consistent with our earlier announcement that we will only release records 90 days or older, this first batch covers the period of time between January 20, 2009 to July 31, 2009. Future batches will be posted on an ongoing basis.

This is what you mean by transparency? Posting visitor records on the Internet? Are you freaking kidding me? When you said 'the most transparent administration eva,' most of us thought you were going to honest about what you doing up there on the hill. Not that you would post White House visitor records online.

I guess the meaning of 'transparency was lost in translation.

Mannheim Steamroller Does Halloween

Greetings, one and all, and Happy Halloween! This year I have more music, including some by Mannheim Steamroller. Yes, they are now doing Halloween music.

Mannheim Steamroller - Rock and Roll Graveyard



Mannheim Steamroller - Creatures of the Night



My apologies if you found the videos to be quite strange. I was looking for the best listening version, not necessarily the best video.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the music and the Monster Profiles. Have a safe & happy Halloween!

Monstrous Profiles - #3 - The Tengu

Onto number three! Special thanks to all my readers so far!

Before we got to the profile, I must apologize to everyone. I meant to have this up on Tuesday, but over the weekend I came down with a nasty ear infection, and that put me out of commission for the weekend. (And it was a such a nice weekend too!) Monday I went back to the doctor and got a couple of new prescriptions which really helped. Either way, I still missed school (having spent all morning in the doctor's office, 85% of it waiting to see the doctor) and didn't go to any of my other activities. Instead I got to rest. Tuesday afternoon I got dragged to Indianapolis for a school field trip and, since we got there too early, got to spend all afternoon there. So that's why I'm late.

Alright, enough of my excuses and/or life's story. Let's get to the monsters!!

Late one autumn afternoon, a man was travelling through a forest deep in the heart of Japan. As he climbed a hill, he noticed an enormous egg sitting off to the side of the trail. Curios, he headed over to take a closer look.

But as he approached the egg, three strange creatures swooped out of the trees, blocking his way and keeping him from the egg. The creatures seemed like humans, but the had birds beaks for mouth, and wings and tails on their backs.

The man had mistakenly walked into a tengu's nest.

Name: Tengu*, subdivided into Karasu-tengu and Hanadaka-tengu.
Location: Japan

Tengu are possibly one of the oldest creatures in Japanese mythology, having first appeared in legend between the sixth and eighth centuries. Since then, they have been everything from demons to minor deities in the Shinto religion of Japan. They are often seen as the protective spirits of mountains and forests.

Tengu are said to begin their lives by hatching out of giants eggs located deep in the mountain, despite the fact that they are almost always male. they are usually depicted wearing the pom-pommed sash and small black cap of a yamabushi, as the tengu later came to be associated with the mountain hermits. The creatures are also said to live mostly in Cryptomeria trees.

From The Obakemono Project:

The origins of the tengu are somewhat obscured. They may be ultimately descended from ancient native bird dieties, but they have most likely had some foreign influence as well. The name tengu is derived from the Chinese tian-gou, and both are written with the same characters. The tian-gou was also a mischievous, mountain-dwelling entity, and while tian-gou means "heavenly dog" (apparently a reference to the fiery tail of a certain meteor), its physical descriptions are various. How much the tengu take from their Chinese namesake is not entirely clear, but at least one source describes a tian-gou with a bird's beak and wings and tangled hair. The tengu's shape may have also been influenced by the Hindu/Buddhist eagle deity Garuda, or the owl-like Chinese thunder god Lei Gong, both of whom it also resembles.

Tengu are subdivided into two groups, the Karasu-tengu, and the Hanadaka-tengu. Karasu-tengu are the lesser tengu, who according to some sources actually serve the hanadaka-tengu. They are said to be a bit more birdlike, having birdlike feet and a bird's beak for a mouth. The hanadaka-tengu were a bit more humanoid, having a long nose in place of a beak and human feet on which they wear one-toothed geta sandals. The greatest of the hanadaka-tengu were known as O-tengu or Daitengu**, and they led clans of tengu. The greatest of the O-tengu was said to be Sōjōbō, and he is said to be king over all the tengu.

The creatures are said have magical straw or feather cloaks that turn the wearer invisible and posses either a magical feathered fan or a leaf of the Japanese Arlia plant. Both of these are called hauchiwa. From Obakemono:

The hauchiwa is used either as a device to alter the length of the tengu's nose (making him less obviously inhuman), or to produce a ferocious, hurricane-like wind. The latter use is not surprising, as tengu were supposedly descended from the furious storm god Susano-o-No-Mikoto.

That legend, according to Obakemono, goes as follows:

It is said that once the storm god Susano-o-No-Mikoto let his raging spirit build up inside him until, like a grotesque Athena, this princess deity [,the Ama-no-zako,] burst forth. She had a beastly head with long ears, nose, and fangs, the latter of which were so strong they could easily chew through steel blades, and she could fly for thousands of miles at a go. This ferocious female spirit is considered the ancestor of such creatures as Ama-no-jaku and the tengu.

Tengu are said to be arrogant creatures, but given their powers they may have a valid reason for this. They have many powers, including flight, shapeshifting, telepathy, teleportation, casting illusions, and creating hurricane-like winds. They are also very skilled in Martial arts and have been credited with training many ninja and samurai. Tengu are also said to be able to posses human hosts.

These creatures appear in many Japanese folktales, sometimes being easily tricked, but at other times helping people.

So if you ever visit Japan, be careful when travelling through forests and mountains. If you're disrespectful to the place, you might just find yourself attacked by a tengu protecting it's home.
_________________________________________

Footnotes: There was so much information about the tengu I had a hard time sifting through it to make this profile. More information about the tengu can be found on Wikipedia, and of course the main source I used here, The Obakemono Project, has a large article which you can see here. Over here is another article that was very informative. Bookmice, along with Wikipedia, both have summaries of Japanese legend about the tengu.

This site has a couple of little stories, and another thing I found interesting was that they claim that tengu are also responsible for causing the sound of trees crashing to the ground, when later none seem to have been cut. I found this to be rather interesting as over on the Wikipedia list of Japanese monsters, there is a thing called soraki-gaeshi which is described as "the sound of trees being cut down, when later none seem to have been cut." In theory, the soraki-gaeshi could probably be the work of the tengu, though I've never attempted to research it.

*Tengu means bird goblin in Japanese. **As another interesting fact, dai is a Japanese prefix that means great. O- is used to indicate respect.

Well, I'm all out of footnotes. If you made it this far, more power to you and thanks for reading.

Monstrous Profiles - #2 - The Banshee

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you profile number two, this time about the banshee.

It is late at night. You have returned to Ireland to visit your great-grandmother, is very ill and confined to bed. Despite the docto's best efforts, she seems to be only getting worse. The clock is slowly pushing it's way towards eleven p.m. (America time) as you sit there with your grandmother.

Suddenly, outside the window, you hear a strange wailing that chills your blood. The wails reach a shrieking crescendo loud enough to shatter glass.

If you hear these otherworldly shrieks, you've just encountered the banshee.

Name: Banshee, variations include Bean Shith and Lady of Death, among only a few others.
Location: Predominantly Ireland and Scotland.

This female spirit is best known for wailing around the house of someone who is about to die. The banshee can show up in multiple forms, including that of a hag but sometimes as a beautiful woman of any age the spirit chooses. She is sometimes said to show up as a washerwoman near a stream, washing the bloodstained clothes of the person who was about to die.

Traditionally, banshees were said to wail for only six Irish families, the O'Neills, the O'Gradys, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, the O'Learys, and the Kavanaghs; however, intermarriage, relatives, and descendants have all extended this list.

According to Associated Content, there are three types of cries the banshee emits:

The most distinctive feature of a banshee is her cry. Legend has it that she will wail around a house if someone in the family is about to die. The first night, only the one to die hears a series of low moans. They are warnings to get one's affairs in order.

The second night the family will hear her howling for an hour or more around midnight.

The third night the banshee comes and shrieks, with keening screeches that will break glass. Everyone in the vicinity knows that a death will occur that night. It is said that a banshee's wails will cause its hearers to break out in cold sweats and experience a great sense of fear.

It is possible that the legend of the banshee arose from a mixture of traditional Irish funeral customs and the peoples' belief in the supernatural. When a citizen in an Irish village died, a woman would sing or "keen" at the funeral. ... Possibly, the ritual and the superstition merged to create the legend of the banshee.

If more than one banshee is heard, it signals that a person of great importance is about to die.

According to some sources, there are two different types of banshees. The first is a friendly banshee.

A 'friendly Banshee' is one who in life, had strong ties to her family, and in death, felt the need to watch over them, and keep close to them. A friendly Banshee is not the horrible, scary thing we imagine. Banshees are rarely seen, but are said to at times show themselves. They are said to be seen as young, beautiful women, with pale faces, either black or golden hair, and long, flowing, white garments.

The song, because that is what it really is, of a friendly Banshee is sorrowful and longing. It is filled with love and concern for those she loves. It is a warning to her loved ones.

Then there is traditional banshee, a spirit that wails to warn of someone's impending death. But no matter whether the spirit is friend or foe, it still only appears to warn of death.

And to those of you with Irish ancestry, be warned. After all, the legends are vague on whether the spirit can travel from land to land. Who is to say that someday, you yourself won't hear a banshee?